Courtney Love (58) can take exactly two music stars seriously: Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) and Lana Del Rey (37). In the “WTF Podcast” with Marc Maron (59), the musician spoke about what she believes are the only two real music geniuses that she has ever met personally. “Stipe? Bono? Yeah, these are people I know and love. Billie Joe, sure. But Lana? She’s got that magic. And she’s not even screwed!”
Love calls Del Rey, who she toured with in 2015, a “true, great friend”. She also reminds the musician of her ex Kurt Cobain: “She has the integrity that Kurt had too, they’re the only two people I can say that about.” Del Rey’s version of “Howl,” originally a monologue by poet Allen Ginsburg (1926-1997), Love compared to the Meat Puppets’ Nirvana covers the band played during their legendary MTV Unplugged special.
Love also introduced Del Rey to singer/songwriter legend Joni Mitchell (79). An encounter that would have “changed the whole f*cking thing,” which is arguably Del Rey’s career, according to the Hole singer. After Del Rey’s 2019 album Norman Fucking Rockwell came out, her “rock critic boomer friends” called her and said, “Hey, your girlfriend, she’s pretty good,” Love recalls. “And I said to her, ‘Welcome to the hurricane, Mrs. Del Rey.’
